Victims of the Night
by kamikaze2007
Summary: Prom is supposed to a magical night, but for Owain and Cynthia, whose dates are MIA, things couldn't get much worse. A gift fic written for signelchan.


**This is my first real attempt at writing Owain and one of my first ventures into the world of Fire Emblem Awakening fic, so I hope you enjoy it!**

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For many, prom night was a night where dreams came true and magic, if only for one night, became truly, finally real. For some, it was a merely a night to get laid and for a few, it was a little bit of both. No matter what camp someone landed in, it was supposed to be a good night, damn it! And for many it was, but naturally, I was the one who got the short end of the stick as usual. It wasn't my fault the girl I asked to the prom "got sick" the day before and couldn't go! Whether it was or not, it still sucked having to sit around and watch my friends bring their dates and ask me why I was all alone. Even my cousin brought a date! My stick-in-the-mud couldn't have fun if you _paid_ her cousin managed to land a date. Granted, her companion for the night also insisted it was a masquerade even though it was clearly not. If it was, I _so_ would have made a cooler mask than him. Anyway, Prom night got off to a terrible start and that's the point I was trying so hard to make before I got side-tracked. In fact, it was so bad that I would have gotten out of there immediately if my ride wasn't my cousin's dad. And since she refused to leave early, I had to stay as long as she did.

"Oh come on! It's not like you and your date are gonna do anything but people watch and sneer at aforementioned people," I reasoned.

"We'll do more than that, I promise." It occurs to me now that what Lucina said could be read as a lot more suggestive than it really was. Trust me, she wouldn't double entendre at me in a million years. "Besides, I didn't drop a small fortune on this dress to walk in and walk right out."

I rolled my eyes and left her and her boring buddy to their extremely dull business. That was when I joined my friends to discover I was literally the only one there who had gotten stood up. Inigo smirked at me as he wrapped his arm around an absolutely stunning Cynthia, who was the only one who seemed sympathetic to my plight. Unfortunately, it was the much less sympathetic Inigo who spoke. "So, looks like someone got dumped."

"I didn't get dumped!" I protested indignantly. "She just...got sick. I guess."

Brady put his hand on my shoulder and shook his head. "Welp, can't say I feel sorry for ya, pal. That chick's been sendin' me bad vibes all week." He then took his hand off me and rubbed it on his pant leg. "You, er, haven't come into contact with her since she got sick, didja? I don't wanna catch whatever it is."

Before I could respond, his date scoffed and folded her arms to pout. "Brady, you didn't bring me here so I could hang out with these losers all night. Take me dancing or get me some punch or something." With an eyeroll and reluctant affirmation from Brady, those two left.

"How'd he get such a witch like Severa to bring him?" Cynthia asked no one in particular.

Inigo shrugged. "Word has it that she practically begged him for the chance to be his date. What she sees in him, I'll never know. She does look hot tonight though. She's like a beautiful flower that uses her colors to mask her deadly venom. It takes a special kind of skill to pull that off."

Cynthia rolled her eyes. "Hey, eyes on the prize, mister. She's not the one you brought here, so I don't want you going on and on about how great she may or may not look."

"Fine fine." Inigo put his hands up defensively. "I'll drop Severa right now. However!"

"Oh dear, here we go..." I groaned.

Despite Cynthia's protests, Inigo continued his sentence. "Owain, your cousin looks simply radiant. Do you think you could—"

"Put in a good word for you?" I finished. "No. Absolutely not. Why don't you do it and face the wrath of her date? I'm sure Gerome would fight you in a heartbeat."

"You now what? That sounds like a fantastic idea," Inigo said as he straightened his tie. "I'll be right back. Cynthia, do be a dear and grab me some punch while I'm gone, would you?"

"Hold on! I'm your date, you can't just leave me!" Cynthia stomped her foot as he turned to leave.

"My sincerest of apologies, my dear, but I have no doubt in my mind that this woman is my destiny. I have to at least try." With that, Inigo the grand douche sauntered off to get his ass beat by my cousin. Probably Gerome too if she let him have a go.

Cynthia huffed and sat down next to me. "Well this sucks."

"Seems I'm not the only one who was stood up," I observed.

Cynthia shot a look at me. "I wasn't stood up. He'll be back and we'll get our dance at some point tonight." Despite her insistence, that time never came. Two hours passed and the only time we'd see Inigo was when he was in between "conquest." He'd stop in front of us, vaguely acknowledge that we were present, and head straight to the next moderately attractive woman who happened to exist at the time. It sucked big time, but on the bright side, it gave me plenty of time to take in the details of Cynthia's outfit and appreciate it more. It was like staring at a renaissance painting for a long time and finding the appreciation for the finer details that all came together to form the work of art in front of you. Her silvery backless dress flowed marvelously and it hugged her curves in all the right ways accentuating just how beautiful she was. The only things throwing off her ensemble—besides her near-constant frown—was the very bottom of her figure.

"Hey Cynthia?"

"What's up Owain?"

"I wanna preface what I'm about to ask by saying that you look absolutely stunning," I started.

Cynthia's face flushed slightly and she reached up to absentmindedly play with her signature pigtails.

I could feel my own face heat up slightly, but I had to finish my sentiment to not seem weird. "Yeah, but uh, I do have one question. What's with the shoes?"

We each looked down at her shoes, which were really well-worn and beat up sneakers that looked years old. She smiled sadly at the sight of them. "Oh yeah, these. I had the choice to wear my mom's old high heels, but I didn't, because I can't dance in high heels without falling on my face." A deep sigh. "And I was so certain I was going to get to dance tonight. Guess I ruined my outfit for nothing."

"Hey, don't you dare speak those lies!" I, er, might have gotten a bit passionate at this point. "The rest of your ensemble more than makes up for the practical shoes that you absolutely have a good reason to wear."

Cynthia chuckled at my flowery language. "Thanks for the sentiment, but what was the point if Inigo's just gonna shrug me off all night looking for some better looking floozy?"

Indignant, I puffed my chest out. "Well, Inigo's a damn fool!" The words were spilling out of my mouth faster than I could stop them, so to hide my shame at what I was about to say, I instinctively held my hand in front of my face, partially obscuring it. "I don't see why he's trying to find someone prettier than you when you're hands down the most beautiful woman here."

Cynthia's face flushed bright red and she suddenly seemed very interested in those worn out shoes. "Wow, Owain...I don't know what to say."

It was then that my brain caught up with what I was saying. "I, er, don't know what to say either. That just kind of...happened."

"Well, I appreciate it," Cynthia said as her eyes started to get misty. "That was sweet of you."

An awkward silence passed. One that took the form of us looking everywhere but each other. She was no doubt looking for Inigo while I was settling on whatever happened to catch my eye. I struggled to think of something to say, but whenever I opened my mouth, I had to hold my tongue because I didn't trust myself not to say something stupid. I already had and made everything awkward, so it would have been idiotic to try to rectify the situation. I felt so stupid for potentially ruining a years long friendship for the sake of a cheesy compliment! Suddenly, the music shifted from one of the more generic popular hits from today (I wouldn't be able to tell you because I only listen to music that's at least ten years older than the current fads) to a strangely catchy tune that definitely caught my ear. Cynthia heard it and acted like she'd just jolted awake from a bad dream. She gasped and covered her mouth, those beautiful yet heartbreaking misty eyes making a comeback. "This is one of my favorite songs. This was the one I was looking forward to dancing to! Damn it inigo!"

I raised an eyebrow. "What is this song? It sounds like an 80's hit, but I know every marginally popular song from that time period and this one doesn't sound familiar."

"Oh, it's not from the 80's. It's a newer song," Cynthia informed me. "And it's one of my favorites and I can't even dance to it..."

Then, I had an idea. I vaguely remember suggesting my plan to her but in hindsight, I'm not even sure I said what it was. I don't know how it happened, but somehow the idea got communicated, because she looked at me with wide eyes, jumped to her feet, and offered me her hand. She took my arm and I felt a strange feeling well up in my chest. Somehow, one of the sentences Inigo said earlier was resonating within me, except instead of being directed at Lucina, it was the woman who was leading me to the dance floor. We took the floor and she turned to me. I stuttered, trying to formulate words. The reality was that they were flowing so fast in my head that I could only get every fifth or so word out. My mind was racing with extravagant descriptions of how, in that moment, her magnificent eyes were like mahogany framed windows into our future together and how her hair bounced with every excited step she took. I tried to stammer out a sentence, but couldn't think of anything to say until I finally turned back to where we were sitting milliseconds ago. "But w-what if Inigo comes back expecting you?"

"Don't you dare look back on me, Owain, just keep your eyes on me, okay?"

I continued to stumble over my words and explain to her everything that came to my mind, but she shut me up with six words that not only changed my life forever, but were also strangely synchronized with the song.

"Shut up and dance with me."

Despite the fact that I had never danced before in my life, we spent a good half hour on that dance floor, dancing our hearts out, helpless to resist the bass and the lights. When we were finally wore out, we took each others hands and walked over to the drinks. We got ourselves some of the punch that was being served and made our way back to where we had been sitting earlier, conversing and laughing all the while. We had been sitting down once more for no more than a minute when Inigo approached us with low spirits.

"Hey guys," He said as he took a seat. "How was your night?"

"Probably better than yours," I spat. "What's got you so down?"

"I've been turned down and rejected by every single woman at this dance. Even the single ones! Man, what is an Inigo to do?" He shrugged dejectedly as Cynthia and I exchanged glances. "At least I still have Cynthia. Right babe?" He tried to put an arm around Cynthia, but she had other plans. She stood abruptly, earning a confused look from her former date.

"No, actually you don't, _babe_." With a swift movement, she overturned her drink and let it spill all over Inigo's (probably) heavily gelled hair.

"What the hell?!" He jumped from his seat, shocked that Cynthia could ever do such a thing. "I—what? Cynthia you explain yourself this instant!"

"That's what you get for womanizing when you already have a date, you dick!" Cynthia punctuated her sentence by throwing her plastic cup in his face. She then looked to me. "Owain, I seem to have run out of my drink. Please be a dear and give me a refill."

I stood and nodded. "I'll do you one better." I handed her my still half-full cup. "Have the rest of mine. I'll get a refill for myself."

"Oh, how sweet of you," Cynthia said with a cute giggle. She gave me a kiss—and I'm not even talking a cheek kiss here—and sent me on my way before I could get a stunned reaction out. When I brought a new cup back, neither her nor Inigo had moved. He simply glared at her and she returned his look fiercely. Suddenly, the lights dimmed and it was finally time for the slow dances. Cynthia's eyes lit up and she shot an expectant glance at me. "Owain, may I have this dance?"

I returned her smile and tossed my still full cup at Inigo. "Why, of course you can, my fair lady. It would be not only my pleasure, but the highest honor to share a dance with one such as you." I took her hand and this time, we took the floor together as one, leaving a soaking wet douchecanoe to think about what he'd done.

With the unfortunate exception of Inigo, everyone who attended that year's prom looking for a magical experience received one in some form or another, but none could say they had quite the same kind of experience that the lovely Cynthia and I did on that fateful night. That first song served as the soundtrack to our first dance and, indeed, the rest of our relationship from that point on, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

If you're wondering about Brady and Severa, we heard stories of what happened to them, and nearly all of them involved clothes meeting the floor and a very different kind of magic via some private time in the janitor's closet.

So yeah, congrats Brady.

I guess.

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 **This is a gift for my wonderful girlfriend signelchan, who works so very hard and deserves a nice gift fic every once in a while. Please go check out her profile. Her works are fantastic and she works extremely hard on them, so please go give them a look. You can find a link to her profile in mine, so check her out. Aaaaafter leaving feedback on this one? Yes? No? Okay.**


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